From the first post:
If you read their site they claim not to be adware spyware but snooping on people`s choices is a form of attack on privacy in my book.
The only extra thing i want to comment on is how bizarre a situation we are in where every web site on the planet tracks every click we make, how long we stay on every given page, etc., and no one raises an eyebrow -- but yet if a "program" does it, most of us go crazy. Same thing with advertisements. As the boundary between desktop and web applications shrink, this is going to get even more schizophrenic.
For me personally, i don't care at all and consider it fine if an installer shows "advertisements" or "banners" -- as long as it doesnt install anything on my pc to do this AFTER the install completes.
And in the same way, i don't mind if it offers me some *OPT-IN* choices that don't try to pretend they are required installs, and aren't checked by default where i might mistakenly install them.
And lastly, if the installer wants to send minor info about which optional things i have chosen to install, during the installation process, that doesn't really bother me -- though it might be nice to ask the user's permission first.
I'm not sure if Andrew explained this part -- but if not -- i do think that the program should tell the user explicitly when the time comes to do it, what info is being sent back to the server. In these days of trojans and viruses -- it's just common sense that when an application connects out to a server, it should tell the user this is happening and why, to avoid people jumping to wrong conclusions.
In summary, to me the installer is much like the download page on a website -- i don't care if they want to show me some ads, ask me some questions, etc., before i install. Just don't put anything evil on my PC permanently.
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